Bidders were a bit cold, a bit wet and not in the buying mood at 15 Kirkwood Sandringham. Passed In. One bidder. (Nick Johnstone, JP Dixon)

A bit of gloom maybe an understatement.  We covered 10 properties auctioned in Bayside today over $1,000,000 and saw a clearance rate of  zer0!  That’s right, nothing was bought under the hammer today.   6 bidders in total, and Park Road, Sandringham had two of them.   That’s Bidderman at 0.6. 

Properties to pass in today on vendor bids  included 3 Wellington , Brighton at $4,000,000, 5 Avondale, Hampton at $1,650,000, 66 Littlewood, Hampton at $1,220,000, 42 Holyrood, Hampton at $1,820,000, 15 Kirkwood, Sandringham at $2,400,000. (See live video of this auction on the  Market News home page).

Some of the bought properties include 28 Keats Street, Sandringham which Jenny Dwyer and auctioneer, Stephen Tickell, at Hocking Stuart bought post auction for  $100,000 above the pass-in price, for $1,650,000.   326 Beach Road, Black Rock (Mark Earle, Buxtons) was bought today for $2,450,000 and 5 Rippon Grove, Brighton which Justin Follett of Kay & Burton sold mid-week  around $3,500,000 after initially passing in at auction.

Speaking with Gail Pullen of Kay & Burton today, she thought the number of buyers around for this time of year was exceptional, but so were the number of properties currently for sale – perhaps evenly matched, and although properties may not be selling at auction, transactions were still happening.  This supports our view that alternative methods of sale in the $2,000,000 plus market will continue to increase over the next few months.

Leigh Hallamore of Buxtons still believes that the auction system brings price to a head and that vendors should consider the price at the time of auction as it may not be present when they come to the realisation that they should have taken it on the day.  He added that vendors need to recalibrate on price to comfortable levels and that some current prices are in no-man’s land whilst the market is in transition.

Clearance Rates Bayside – 35 monitored – 14 bought – 40% (last week 46%)

Expressions of Interest
Kay and Burton are the masters of this form of selling and with the current market and clearance rates it is as expected coming back into vogue. Four interesting homes that Mal has been through recently and rated highly are

• 9 Martin St Brighton (Gail Pullen and Ian Jackson) north facing golden mile land with an art deco maybe.
• 3/9 Glyndon Brighton (Alex Schiavo and Stewart Lopez) – golden mile apartment in the traditional style
• 2a Seacombe Grove (Sturt Hinton) – left field golden mile townhouse  worth a look
• 31 Martin St Brighton (Sturt Hinton and Stewart Lopez) – really good home in that Elwoody North Brighton, Beachy precinct.

Miriam Carraro of Hodges and one of Brighton’s quiet achievers says this about EOI’s. There is an increase in EOI as it suits vendors who would like to sell privately but wish to have an end date to the process (which auctions give you): the vendors selling through EOI can get the best of both worlds using this method. 

If as a buyer, you would like to know more about how to work your way through the EOI method of sale, please give us a ring.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Indoor Auctions were the order of the day. Stephen Tickell and Jenny Dwyer pass in and sell after for $1,650,000. 1 bidder.

Brighton 7 Maysbury: Passed In for $3,200,000. 1 bidder. A quiet crowd of 50.

Of the 9 properties we covered in Bayside today, 6 passed in.  Ten bidders for the 9 properties, although  Leigh Hallimore of Buxtons did have three of the ten bidders at 41 Lynch Crescent, Brighton.  Bidderman was at 1.1 for Bayside.

7 Grosvenor Street, Brighton (Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon), 960sqm and north facing rear, near the shops and beach passed in with one bidder for $3,310,000 and remains unsold.  22 Margarita Street, a premier Hampton street and good family home, passed in with no bids at $2,250,000.  7 Maysbury Brighton (Leigh Hallamore of Buxton) passed in with one bid for $3,200,000.  91 Dendy Brighton (Greg Costello RT Edgar) passed in with no bids at $2,350,000.

18 Sussex, auctioned by Stewart Lopez at Kay & Burton, 920 sqm in Brighton’s Diamond K, passed in for $3,110,000.  It did sell after for a price closer to $3,200,000.  If you put no value in the house, that’s around $3,450 sqm.  Very different to  40 Sussex which sold in February at $4,500 sqm.  Justin Follett also of Kay & Burton successfully sold 49 Hanby Street, Brighton during the week after passing in last weekend just over $2,000,000.  Bill Jowett of Buxtons, negotiated  26 Ebden Avenue, Black Rock  after auction for $2,500,000.  On 1,239 sqm, that’s still $2,000 sqm for this predominantly land only property.  37 Normanby, Brighton, with Peter Kennett of Hocking Stuart, also sold after for around $2,800,000.

85 Were St (Robin Parker of RT Edgar) was bought for $1,310,000 or $3195 per sqm for a small land holding. Interesting!

Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon Real Estate advised he’d sold two off market properties in Brighton during the week.  Park Street for $1,735,000 and Middle Crescent for $3,675,000.  He further advised that the Middle Crescent property had sold six months earlier for $3,100,000. Some properties are still continuing to attract strong prices.  He did say that he thought we would see more off market transactions over the next few months.

Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart feels buyer nervousness increases as you go further up the price pyramid. We concur.

James Paynter of Hodges  advised strength for properties around the $1,000,000ish price point with 15 Short Street, Hampton East selling strongly for $970,000  and 12A Vincent, Sandringham for $1,092,000.  In the same price bracket, 42 May Street, Hampton, with Mark Earle of Buxtons, sold before auction in the low $1′s.  However, 12 Codrington Street, Sandringham passed in on a vendor bid of $1,200,000.

Bayside Auction Results - 26 monitored – 12 bought – 46% clearance rate

Happy Wife, Happy Life

Brighton 7 Grosvenor St: Passed In $3,310,000. Quiet vibe from the crowd of 70. 1 bidder

One of the nice guys; nonetheless a man on a mission. Mission Accomplished for Bill Jowett of Buxton. Black Rock 63 First: Bought After $1,610,000: 1 bidder

Eight bought at auction and 12 passed in (10 on a vendor bid) – that’s a James $Million+ clearance rate of 40%. Having said that, 7 $M+ homes were sold mid-week in Bayside so the market isn’t in hibernation.

As more $3M+ auctions fail and vendors ask the question `why spend $30,000 on a failed auction marketing campaign ?’, you will begin to see more and more Expressions of Interest. Expressions of Interest and Off Market sales are increasing with JP Dixon and Kay and Burton. Two more $4M+ auctions that failed to fire today are 19 Wellington and 23 St Ninians.

Buyer behaviour  appears to have changed in the past month.  This may be due to increased stock levels providing more choice for buyers and/or buyer’s becoming more discerning.  However, according to our research, there have still been 57 sales over $1,000,000 in Bayside this month.  That’s over 2.5 sales per day!

Some interesting issues:

1. The bought afters on the day are now a big part of current Bayside auction life. Auctioneer, Bill Jowett of Buxtons has since sold 63 First Street, Black Rock  for $1,610,000,  Mark Earle of Buxtons sold 148 Thomas Street, Hampton after auction for $1,570,000, 11 Passchendaele, Hampton with Julian Augustini of Hodges sold after for $1,290,000,  Errol Driver of Hodges sold 7 Hilton Street, Beaumaris after for  $1,385,000.  Julian Augustini of Hodges auctioned 6 Higinbotham Street, Brighton.  A genuine bid of $1,650,0oo (not accepted)  was followed by another  vendor bid and passed in.  The property has since sold for $1,800,000.
2. Not all sold afters have big jumps in price.
   7 Hilton Beaumaris – $5,000
   63 First St Black Rock – $100,000
   148 Thomes St Hampton – $34,500
   11 Passchendaele Hampton – $90,000
3. No auctions over 2 bidders today and Bidderman was a lowly 1.2.
4. 125 Male St Brighton resold yesterday with 2 strong bidders (Lambros Bollas of Buxton) for 1,275,000. Last sold in August 2007 for $1,005,000 so that’s only about a 6% return pa after stamps. Better than many shares – but ….

If you don’t know how to play the Expressions of Interest game then you may well learn at your peril.  Perhaps give us a ring for some insights.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Another Pass In with a really good crowd (100): 19 Wellington Brighton: Kay and Burton Pass In $4,210,000: 1 bidder

Hampton: 28 Amiens Street: Auctioneer Peter Kennett working on his beard. Hmmmm. Bought post auction north of $2,375,000. Bidderman 1.

Discussions this week with Robin Parker of RT Edgar Real Estate included the  firm’s initiative to disclose the reserve price at the commencement of the campaign of 12 Cowper Street, Brighton. Throughout the campaign,  Rowan Thompson (the auctioneer), advised prospective buyers that property would be on the market at $1,425,000.   Buyers were informed and it paid off.  Mr Thompson successfully auctioned the property, with 4 bidders and almost 50 bids, to successfully sell the property for $1,641,000.  Their forward thinking to disclose the reserve price to buyers from the commencement of the campaign, not only encouraged people to bid, it advised prospective buyers that if they did bid at that level and they were the last one standing, they would buy it.  On a day where pass-in numbers were higher than we are currently used to seeing, this strategy worked and it worked well.  Declared Reserves  a winner for both buyers and sellers.

Still on land sites or major renovations, the potential new home site at 76 Carpenter Street, Brighton, auctioned by Campbell Cooney of Hodges, saw 4 bidders again draw the price to a close at $2,220,00.   A strong result with the property calculated at a little over $2,600 sqm.   The large land sale further south, however, at 5 Rippon Grove, Brighton remains unsold passing in at $3,252,000.  There were still 3 bidders  on that property, and given it’s location, is sure to sell soon.  Another with 3 bidders,  also passing in, was 9 Jillian Avenue, Highett. Lack of bidders was not the problem on all properties.  Perhaps some vendor expectations are still rising when the market is not.  Of the 10 Bayside properties we covered, 7 passed in, one sold prior and two under the hammer.  There were bidders on all but two 65 North Road, Brighton – well sized home on low maintenance block and 35 Reid Street, Beaumaris a large family home in a great location.  Others passing in with one bid apiece were 17 Connor Street, Brighton East and 4 Smith Street, Hampton.   However, Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart, again showed her skills, successfully negotiating the sale of 28 Amiens, Hampton.  A great family home in the Castlefield Estate, initially passing in for $2,275,000, eventually selling north of $2,375,000.

Another result from an expressions of interest campaign for Ross Savas and Stewart Lopez of Kay & Burton, selling a block of land in Mulgoa Street on Brighton’s Golden Mile,  for more than $4,000,000.

Definitely poor selling results this week.!  Were they due to the upheaval seen on the stock market on Friday, the quality of property, the Vendor expectation or reduced buyer interest.  Bidder man was still at 1.8 on the 10 properties we covered.  Perhaps the next few weeks will tell.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Brighton East: 17 Connor: Leigh Hallamore passes into a lone phone bidder at $2,125,000

Abercromby's Rob Vickers-Willis in fine form at 14 Wheatland Road Malvern with a big crowd of a 100 producing 6 bidders and a post auction result in excess of $2,250,000. Photo: Julia Atkinson

It is 6pm Saturday and the James Million Dollar-Plus Clearance rate for the 36 Auctions we attended today was a solid  75 per cent on good stock numbers.

The “frenzy” feel has left the highest of the higher end market for now as the new age businessman and establishment money, who determine the Toorak market, reconsider after

(1)    looking at their business’s forward estimate balance sheets.
AND
(2)    looking at the prices being asked.

While we are indicating we think the market has cooled in the last fortnight, we are not saying prices are dropping – they are just leveling a bit as buyers say; no more – nope – that’s enough – I don’t wish to afford anymore. Consequently at the TOP END there are now fewer occasions when there are multiple extreme bidders pushing prices 10% beyond the previous week’s experiences. This in effect has produced a leveling of demand at the $2m+ mark and consequently vendors are selling at market expectations in line with last months performances or they are not selling.

The price surge since November 2009 on top of the unending climb since March 2009 may well be showing some light at the end of the tunnel for distressed buyers.

But please . We felt this cooling about a month ago and then the pre-Easter weekend slapped us in the face and said: “No buddy you’re wrong – no market leveling here”. That same cooling feeling or perhaps better described as less frenzied feeling is flowing freely throughout the Top End of the market today as buyers simply say. No.

No – I’m not scared anymore – I need to be sensible and if I can’t buy it at that; then I need to move on and find one I can.

This could become the May 2010 buyer mantra as we have good stock levels for the next 4 weeks. How long will it last? Personally I think it is a thought of some substance and we may see an extended period of buyer caution.  We are saying buyer caution not buyer inaction.

Many (not all) of the buyers who have a few million and then some to spend on a home understand money. They understand balance sheets; they work and/or mix in positions where they observe what is happening in business. And businesses right here and now are asking questions of the future.

So while buyers are not panicking in any shape or form – they are still around in very strong numbers – they as a collective seem to have taken a more circumspect view of what a home is worth to them. Buyers seem happy to leave it to those that must have it (bullish buyers or unrealistic sellers) and move on in search of a home that is good quality and sensibly priced.

Let’s hope this is the case because no one, bar an opportunist, loves operating in a boom and bust market. And if we keep booming then we are going to bust.

The Inner Melbourne Median Market say $1million to $1.5million is a completely different animal and this is to be expected. At this level discretion is not an option – you need to house the family. They are getting bigger or you are moving here or you are leaving home. Buyers need to buy and they still are in strong numbers. Nope. This market is still giving the impression it is well and truly unsatisfied and still has an incredible appetite for the markets offerings at this price level.

Some of today’s (Saturday May 1^st) stats on the auctions we covered

Over $2million – Bidderman 1.9. Clearance Rate 60%

Under $2million – Bidderman 3. Clearance Rate 82%

The market is not going backwards, it is just rejecting those who are still on the rise and rejecting those agents who have promised the world and then some, run a campaign accordingly and looked around at auction time surprised it’s not 15% over last week’s best result.

However buyers the market is not weak; it is still very strong at the right price for the right home.

Buy happy

Mal

Malvern 14 Wheatland Road auction crowd in excess of 100.

Black Rock 19 Stanley Bought $1,600,000. Despite a quiet auction, Mr Smooth aka Wes Belt relieved the one bidder of a solid amount in post auction negotiations. Strong, very strong.

Strength was seen in quality properties today, however, there were still a few surprise pass-ins.  Well-positioned land with homes of minimal value (some could argue no value) led the way.  4 Arkaringa, Black Rock, was auctioned by Campbell Cooney of Hodges and sold for almost $2,350 sqm (if there is no value in the house).  22 Surf Avenue, Beaumaris in another great location was auctioned by Mark Earle of Buxtons for around $2,050 sqm (again with a liveable house requiring major work/replacement). Another land property (920sqm) at 2 Fairleigh Avenue, Beaumaris, overlooking the R0yal Melbourne Golf Club, auctioned by Brian Hutchins of Brian Hutchins Real Estate  sold for $1,340,000.  However, 18 Arranmore, Black Rock (again land only) passed in at $1,150,000.  Another surprise today, given that 40 Sussex Street, Brighton sold strongly a few weeks ago for just over $4,500 sqm,  was  1 Webb Street (a stone’s throw away from Sussex) which passed in for $2,550,000. Difficult home but stellar location so Buxton’s Mr Hart should move it on some time sooner rather than later.

When speaking with Stephen Tickell of Hocking Stuart he advised “Despite buyers appearing to become a little more cautious with their  bidding at auctions over the past couple of weeks there still appears to be a strong underlying confidence , particularly at the ‘top end’,  in our sector of the bayside.”   6a Seaview Crescent, Black Rock   and 71 Royal Avenue, Sandringham both sold after auction today, both over $ 2 million dollars, maintaining Hocking Stuart’s clearance levels above 85% across the board.  He further advised  “The market remains strong, but the heady ‘free for all’ days of auctions with unrestrained bidding may be returning to a more sensible and sustainable level.”  Another sale today over $2,000,000 was with Jason Gill of Hodges, who ran a successful campaign at 52 Asling Street, Brighton.  The property also passing in at $2,110,000 and sold post auction close to $2,200,000.

Across Bayside agents still feel stock levels are down, however, results like Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon, selling 4 properties in Hampton in the last month totaling $16M may encourage others in the area to think about listing their properties.  Normally these are the sorts of properties we buy in Brighton,  but the strength of the recent market may be beginning to include Hampton on a more regular basis.

The median price trend chart, courtesy of the REIV, is a very useful tool to confirm thoughts over the longer term. This chart below clearly shows Brighton’s price decline in 2008 and price recovery in 2009 – as it does but not quite as dramatically for most of Bayside. Remember these REIV charts are for all homes not just our focus of $M+.

Happy Wife, Happy Life

Hampton: 30 Avondale Street: Bought under the hammer for $2,800,000. 3 bidders. Crowd over 200. Mark Earle of Buxton in charge of the hustle and bustle.

Bidderman was 2.5 of the 6 properties we covered in Bayside  (and 3 across Melbourne for all the properties we covered over $1,000,000.)  Clearance rates were high amongst most Bayside agents.  Justin Follett of Kay & Burton advised 100% clearance rate today, whilst Mark Earle of Buxtons Sandringham advised they sold 6 of 8 and Julian Augustini of Hodges advised 86% across Bayside, with the standouts in the lower price brackets, with multiple bidders.

Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart, teamed with her usual partner, Stephen Tickell, to sell 2 Victoria Street, Sandringham today for $1,552,000.  The 7 bidders were divided between bulldozing and renovating as this property held interest for both.  On 727 sqm with a south facing rear, land was $2,134 sqm.

243 Beach Road, Black Rock, auctioned by Julian Augustini of Hodges, sold for $2,230,000 with 3 bidders.  Another knockdown, on 1022 sqm with access from Bayview Crescent.  This calculated land at $2,189 sqm.

Another strong result for 56 St Andrews Street, Brighton, after 60 St Andrews Street sold this month for $2,900,000.  Nick Johnstone of JP Dixon Real Estate auctioned the property, in front of about 90, he had 2 bidders and sold it for $2,610,000. He also got sold the biggest sale I can remember in Hampton for some time, said to be between $4,400,000 and $4,600,000 at 31 Gordon Grove Hampton.

The two that didn’t make it and were passed in – 27 Cowper Street, Brighton, rating 736, a double fronted period home on 576 sqm and north facing rear, failed to attract a bid. The other pass in was 21 Balcombe Park Lane, Beaumaris on  696 sqm rating 677.  Both these properties needed major renovations to bring up to current home expectations.

The property of interest today, with around 200 onlookers, was 30 Avondale, Hampton.  A new, period style, family home on 700 sqm, auctioned by Mark Earle of Buxtons sold for $2,800,000.   Mark advised afterwards that good quality stock is still especially popular with buyers.

Things are expected to be a little quieter over the Easter/school holiday period.  Both Jenny Dwyer and Mark Earle say Bayside is currently not inundated with properties for sale.  Though Justin Follett claims there are some good quality land sites coming on after Easter.  1st of May is shaping up to be the next big weekend in real estate.

Happy Wife, Happy Life

John Clarkson of Hocking Stuart on his way to producing a stellar result (for the seller) at 38 Montclair Avenue Brighton North

To quote Rodney Morley of TBM real estate  at the auction of 23 Loch Street today, “That’s 8 of you!”  – and the bidders weren’t just there.  They were everywhere!  Loch Street, in St Kilda West, was buzzing with a crowd of more than 150 and bids came from everywhere.

Stuart Lopez of Kay & Burton achieved a fantastic result at 40 Sussex Street, Brighton.  Considered land only (725 sqm) by many, it sold for $3.25M.  That’s  a little over $4,500 per sqm.  Further down south, Hocking Stuart’s pair Stephen Tickell and Jenny Dwyer sold 5 Jennings Street, Sandringham for $1.85M.  With a feeling of yesteryear, this property needed a lot of work, and was rated as such.  If you put no value in the house (although many would keep it),  at 749 square metres, that’s almost $2,500 per sqm.

Family homes sold well today: John Clarkson of Hocking Stuart, sold 38 Montclair, Brighton for $2,225,000 with 3 bidders.  A property in Alicia Street, Hampton that did not move at all last year has sold via an expression of interest campaign, and we believe it sold this week for a little over $4M.  Leigh Hallamore and Bert Stewart of Buxtons ran a good campaign at 2a Rippon Grove, Brighton, selling under the hammer in the early $3M’s.

And it wasn’t just family homes selling today with multiple bidders -  the Leigh and Bert duo continued on to successfully sell 170 Were Street, Brighton, a small townhouse, for $1.283M with 5 bidders; up from just under a million when it last sold about 18 months ago.

The question now is whether this is a sign of things to come.  Will bidders remain at these numbers?  Will an increase in properties affect the current heat in the market?

Happy Wife Happy Life

Brighton: 8 Carpenter Street: These types of townhouses can sometimes be difficult at auction. Not this one. Bidderman 3. Bought under the hammer for $2.4million. Justin Follett Kay and Burton

2010 has started strongly with 41 sales  over $1M in the Bayside year to date.  A 30% increase up on calendar year to date last year which was at 28 sales over $1M.

Let’s talk about Hampton.   Four interesting auctions today – land first, Olive Street, out towards Hampton East sold for around $1.1M or $1500 sqm. Moving a bit closer to the beach, into the Castlefield Estate, we saw 19 Avelin sell for a tick over $1.2M or around $2033 sqm if you place no value in the house.  Again, moving even closer to the beach, into Hampton’s golden triangle, two more solid sales of compact blocks with reasonable houses on them, with 6 Vista selling at $1.5M and 9 Gordon selling at $1.635M - both under the hammer.

In Brighton we saw 8 Carpenter Street, which is a quality townhouse ( two on the block) sell under the hammer for $2.4M as quoted by Justin Follett of Kay & Burton – 3 bidders.  Good result for a potentially difficult property.

Finishing off down south, with a positional sale on 353 sqm, was 5 Gordon Crescent, Black Rock at $1.035M.  A good result for agent Peter Hickey of Buxtons.  While down there, I spoke to Errol Driver of Hodges in Beaumaris who said sales were down from last year.  “Last year there were 98 properties for sale, today, one year later there are only 38,” said Mr Driver.  This is what we have been hearing from everybody, Bill Jowett of Buxtons to Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart.  There’s just not much stock around at present.  Next weekend is a big weekend and a month later, before Easter, is also a big auction weekend.  If they all sell, there doesn’t look like there will be enough properties on the market to meet demand and that may mean future price increases.

Happy Wife  Happy Life

Elwood: 30 Wave St: Sam Gamon: WHERE DID THAT BID COME FROM? Bought $1.775m. Photo - Jen Milligan

John Holdsworth and Andrew Stuart of Hocking Stuart had the biggest auction with 34 Ferrars Place South Melbourne at $4.71million and the biggest pass-in at $7m+ at 121 Beaconsfield Parade Albert Park.

Wherever you went from Sandringham to Port Melbourne to Elwood to Bentleigh our advocates and reporters called in million dollar sales – over 50 in fact. Yep -50. There were also a number of pass-ins, at least 22 over a million and a number remain unreported. Again as we have said in other market wraps there are buying opportunities over the next few weeks pre Christmas – keep your wits about you and if it makes sense to you, why not think about jumping in.

Black Rock: 9 Bayview Crescent: The house the crowd is looking at sold for $1.725m which, according to Jenny Dwyer, has broken the Black Rock sqm record.

Bentleigh, Ormond and McKinnon – talking with Peter Sinclair, Melissa Ryan and Nick Renna also of Hocking Stuart after their very successful $1.055m result on 21 Wood St Bentleigh we got to theorizing that those  buyers that are coming to Bentleigh by necessity (many families come by choice) may in fact be coming from  NOT traditional Bayside suburbs such as Brighton or East Brighton (Bidderman below 2 most auctions) but may in fact be being squeezed out of suburbs such as Glen Iris and Malvern East where Bidderman week in and week out is between 4 and 5 on the better suited family homes. The $1.2m result in Hughesdale – yep Hughesdale where nobody really batted an eye may confirm this theory or it may simply be that finally Melbournians are coming of age and realizing just how great and how cheap some of our inner city suburbs and homes are when you compare to Sydney and the rest of the world. It’s good to talk to Pete, Melissa and Nick – lots of knowledge there.

Continuing on the result at 21 Wood St Bentleigh (land only) which confirms that last weeks 28 St James Bentleigh sale at $1,038,000 was at market and proves in our mind that land east of Jasper Road – almost Bentleigh East; in that Higgins Road sporting complex precinct (James recommended precinct) is now being calculated at over $1200 per sq metre on the good blocks.

Bidderman 1.6

James Attended Auction Reports below

HAMPTON, 9 Deakin St Nth – Passed in – no bidders (Hodges)
Auctioneer Julian Augustini (Hodges) had his work cut out for him today, with no response from the very small crowd attending this auction. The property was passed in following a second vendor bid of $1.325m.

MIDDLE PARK, 10 Langridge St – Bought – three bidders – (Hocking Stuart)
Although Auctioneer David Wood waited patiently for the sound of constant chatter to subside and give way to a bid, it was only after he offered a vendor bid of $1,400,000 that 3 of the 60 people in the crowd decided to begin a slow race to the finish. The property was declared on-the-market at $1,505,000 and the miserly bids continued. As the threat of rain was mentioned by Mr Wood, to fast track the result no doubt, 2 of the 3 bidders declared their limit and Mr Wood clapped the highest bidder “sold” at $1,610,000.

BLACK ROCK, 9 Bayview Crescent – Bought – six bidders (Hocking Stuart)
Huge interest in this executor’s house, with a crowd upward of 150 people. Cyclists, walkers families and developers all keen to see what would happen to this property in a prime location close to the beach. Stephen Tickell (Hocking Stuart), assisted by Jenny Dwyer, took the reigns, with the auction opening on a genuine bid of $1.2m. Five more bidders joined in the action and bidding quickly exceeded the $1.25m reserve. The house eventually sold for $1.725m which, according to Ms Dwyer, has broken the record per square foot in Black Rock.

HAMPTON, 52 Linacre St – Bought – three bidders (RT Edgar)
An extremely large crowd gathered at this auction, which opened on a genuine bid of $2.2m. Auctioneer Greg Costello, (RT Edgar), took bids from three parties, but the property failed to sell, passing in at $2.325m. It sold later for $2,437,500.

SANDRINGHAM, 4 Keats St – Passed in – no bidders (Hodges)
A very quiet crowd of about 20 people attended this action where the only chatter came from children playing in a nearby yard. Auctioneer Julian Augustini (Hodges) did his best to get a reaction from the small gathering but there were no bites and the property was passed in on a second vendor bid of $1.52m.

ALBERT PARK, 121 Beaconsfield Parade – Passed in – no bidders (Hocking Stuart)
It seemed there was a garden party on at Beaconsfield Parade today. The 100 or so people inspected the historical property, enjoyed the bay views and were even soothed by the sounds of the water feature in the front garden. A lovely time was had by all except Auctioneer Andrew Stuart. There was no popping of the bubbly at this garden gathering!  Mr Stuart could not coerce a single bid from the large crowd even after making what he termed “a very low vendor bid of $7,000,000” to open proceedings at this auction. No. 121 was Passed-In and everybody went home.

ELWOOD, 30 Wave St – Bought – two bidders (Chisholm & Gamon)
A most tranquil setting with birds singing, the hustle and bustle of St Kilda a stone’s throw away and only the distant hum of traffic could be heard…Enter vibrant auctioneer Sam Gamon (Chisholm & Gamon) and his assistant Shane Banfield who launched into a tag team entertainment routine using famous lines such as “how’s the serenity” and telling the small but attentive crowd that everyday was a holiday in beautiful Elwood. And, although the auction got off to a fairly slow start, the expertise and perseverance of Mr Gamon saw two  bidders enter the fray and strongly contest this modern house, reaching a sale price of $1.755m. A lot of happiness from the crowd for the new owners of the property.

BENTLEIGH, 21 Wood St – Bought – three bidders (Hocking Stuart)
A very quick hot auction, typical of Hocking Stuart’s Nick Renna. Opening on a vendor bid of $800,000 it was soon on the market at $890000. Voracious bidding saw the house sell for $1.055m. Great vibe with a crowd of around 70 people and three bidders.

BRIGHTON, 49 William St – Passed in – no bidders (Buxton)
Despite the hard work of auctioneer Leigh Hallamore (Buxton) there were no bids at the auction of this Brighton property. A reasonably large crowd of around 70 people saw the property pass in on a vendor bid of $2.95m. Two or three interested parties were seen in discussion following the auction so it should be interesting to see if there are any further developments in the coming days.

ST KILDA WEST, 42 Mary St – Passed in – one bidder (Bennison Mackinnon)
A crowd of 50 people walked to Mary St to watch an auction conducted by Damien O’Sullivan. An opening bid of $2m was immediately followed by a Vendor Bid of $2.25m. Mr O’Sullivan described the vendor bid as “ being in the bottom end of the guide” and then, proceedings came to an abrupt halt. No further bids resulted in the property being Passed-In.

BRIGHTON, 23 Cosham St – Passed in – no bidders (Kay & Burton)
A good crowd of 90+ gathered in the front drive-way of 23 Cosham St. You could smell the sea-breeze and feel the anticipation as Gerald Delany stepped out. He boomed out and wasn’t shy to start with a vendor bid of $5 million. He said he wasn’t surprised by the lack of bidding as ‘no-one likes to be the first bidder’. No one was confident enough to bid and it passed in pretty quickly at the initial vendor bid as the rain started to set in.

Happy Wife Happy Life

ffffffffffffffffff fair dinkum how easy is this job. Your put your reserve in the paper and buyers turn up and bid at reserve and you sell it to the highest bidder: Greg Costello RT Edgar sells Holyrood St Hampton with complete transparency

It is 6pm Saturday and the James Auction Clearance Rate on the 26 $1 million-plus properties we attended and reported on today was 69 per cent.

Three Cheers for Greg Costello and Evelyn Papadopoulos of RT Edgar Brighton. Today they auctioned a flat in Holyrood St Hampton with a publicly declared and advertised reserve. And guess what, the world didn’t cave in. We witnessed 3 bidders with over a 100 bids – the 2nd one at the $475,000 reserve, after a cheeky first bid of $400,000. Bought for $551,000. While we see a good case that a declared reserve should not be mandatory for sellers we also think that agent smoke and mirrors quoting should not be the only alternative for buyers.

But I digress.

Stonnington Summary
James Connell, Director of Marshall White reported a very strong day with 27 out 31 auctions selling.  He said very strong – across the board. The next three weeks are big for Marshall White.

We saw 24 $m+ campaigns this week with a seller disconcerting 10 passed in at auction. That is a clearance rate of 58% and the main reason the overall James Clearance Rate is as weak as it is today.

Why? Price is why? Many vendors are dare we say it ahead of themselves. We are no longer convinced we are in an across the board rising Stonnington market.

Lots more in Stonnington Market Wrap below …….

Boroondara Summary
Scott Patterson of Jellis Craig said 80% of their 44 auctions sold today with 29 Wattle Valley Road Canterbury $450,000 over reserve at $3.65m and 24-26 Dean St Kew selling for $800,000+ over reserve. Strong numbers and bidders at most auctions according to Scott with the next 3 weeks being huge and in fact December 12^th is a company record for auctions on one day – ever at Jellis Craig. Scott thinks that there is an underlying strength in buyer demand and if December 12^th finishes positive then next year should start the same. At present he can see no cracks.

But Glen Iris – WOW – we talked about it in market news last week – but what are they putting in the water there – 16 – yes 16 reported campaigns in Glen Iris this week with all bar 2 selling. Since 1 October there have been 39 sales over a million. 39 – 39 – yep 39 over a million.

Lots more in Boroondara Market Wrap below …….

Bayside Summary
Julian Augustini said Hodges 6 out of 7 sold at auction.
Buyer demand is quite strong as buyers realize little stock is coming on moving forward over next 5 weeks
“Both Campbell and I have 5 auctions each for December 12^th. These campaigns started today and response has been strong so Dec 12^th is looking strong despite huge numbers of auctions this weekend.”
More offers being made prior to auction that I’ve seen in a years – and there are a quite a few sold before.  Sandy last week 2 sold at and 1 passed in and 4 sold before.
$1m to $1.5m is very strong through Sandy and Hampton.

Lots more in Bayside Market Wrap below …….

Evolution of a Agent

The title of this article may lead some to think that this will be a record short Market Insight. Agents simply have not changed over the years. They are still creeps who lie and trick and do anything for a deal.

Real estate agents (throughout this article we refer to buying or selling agents collectively) unfortunately do not enjoy the best reputation. Many people believe that agents have not changed over the years: a common view is that agents are liars who do anything for a deal.

Well, truth is relative and not telling the whole truth can be essential to getting the best deal for your client. As a buyer agent we are asked certain questions that, no matter how many times we’re asked, we need to deflect, avoid or respond to in a slightly less than straight manner in the first instance. If we don’t, we might as well not worry about hanging out our shingle because we are not representing our clients correctly.

Similarly, when we ask a selling agent for his or her price, whether there is other interest and whether we can cut a deal today, we don’t always get, or expect to get back all of the answer.

To believe, as a buyer, you will be told the whole truth on all issues, by selling agents is the same as believing a politician will tell the truth on all issues. This may be unreasonable and definitely naïve on your part and naivety in real estate can be a very costly thing.

I personally lie at times if lying is defined as allowing some to think differently to what we know to be the case. And I assume this is where many buyer and seller agents get their lowly reputation. I’m working on zero lying but I am not quite there yet.

While I may “lie” to some, I emphasize far less than you may think – I do not lie to my clients and those whom I represent. And I don’t do this because I am claiming to be of high morals. I don’t lie to my clients because it is bad business practice. I really do believe the majority of skilled $m+ agents, be it buying or selling agents, think the same and do the same with their clients.

As the skills of buying and selling agents improve the amount of lies reduce. I certainly lie less to selling agents than I did 5 or 10 years ago. It’s a work in progress and the more skilled both parties are, the less lying.

The conundrum in all this, is that eventually in the buying/selling process most of the deals we do; have a high level of truth between the buying and selling agent, be it at auction, private sale or through expressions of interest.

That’s right, truth and dealing actually do have a high interaction in real estate. Yes, truth and dealing are not always partners, but they are far more common partners than many people think.

Repeating myself, truth is the most common conduit by which a deal is done when dealing with skilled buying and selling agents on either side.

Final point on lying. More often than not lying doesn’t work – it hinders the deal not helps it – if it helped our buying clients against skilled selling agents, we may use it more. But most times it doesn’t improve our client’s situation and it definitely doesn’t, in our opinion, make us more effective or more emotionally or financially rewarded agents. Many other of the best buying and selling agents who earn the big money  also do not lie to their clients (and are getting better at being truthful with others, be it buyers or sellers). Those client liars who do consistently earn reasonable dollars, earn their incomes, in our opinion, not because of their lies but because of their work rate and skill and presence. They may well earn more if they lied to their clients less often.

The point of this article is to say that with regards to lying, in our opinion, buying and selling agents are evolving. That is not to say we/they are getting better at it – we/they are doing less of it.

So why deal with agents (buying or selling) if we are not perfect human beings?

The evolution of a good agent is a lot more than telling the truth. we’re sure the milk bar owner in Neerim South is an honest man  but if he doesn’t know anything about buying a $2 million family home then it doesn’t matter how morally upstanding he is, I wouldn’t be hiring him, or even asking  him for free help, to assist me to buy a new home.

And that is the second area where we think agents have again evolved – knowledge. As a group, we have left the jungle and are more and more becoming,  dare we say it, almost valuable members of society because of knowledge.

Knowledge good agents have:

• Past sales and the ability to point out which is relevant and which is not. We are meant to know these because, with buying, history often repeats itself.
• How to present a home to maximise its appeal, because that brings in more buyers. More buyers means more demand and that means higher prices. If we are a buying agent,then we need to recognise homes that may have not been dressed up nicely and, while they may seem ugly ducklings, they are in fact somewhat of a hidden gem.
• Legislation.
• How to talk to buyers to gather information relevant to maximise the seller’s position and,if a buyer agent, how to gather information to maximise the buyer’s position.
• How to guide clients away from poor decisions, and not to panic but be decisive.
• How to remain clear and focused under pressure – how not to be sidetracked with deliberate and accidental curveballs.
• How to recognise opportunity through experience – things a book cannot teach you. Things you have leant from past mistakes.
• How to show you have $2.1million when in fact you only have $1.8million and vice versa.

More evolution. Good agents are a lot more than telling the truth and having knowledge. And this is one of the major differences between Neanderthal agents and the modern Homo Sapien varieties. Agents have evolved in their ability to guide and manage expectations and most agents have thorough processes to do this.

Guidance and Guidelines: Many buyers and sellers do not think through all the consequences (because they don’t know them) of their decisions.  For instance, if you don’t know that poor light and flow can make your family unhappy in many imperceptible ways, then you won’t consider this – a good buyer agent can guide his or her buying client through this.  Similarly, if selling, and you are unaware that your home is a good one but not a popular one, then your focus may be on salesman commission rather than selling method and you will never know that your decision created untold stress for you at a failed sale and also cost you $325,000 in the price. A good selling agent can guide his or her selling client through this minefield.

Expectation management: many professional agents, whether a buyer or selling agent, have become loads better at giving options by explaining what may happen in advance; so that when the buyer or seller hits a little crisis, as they almost always inevitably do, they don’t zig when the smart decision was to zag.

Taking this a little further  – Process.

If you could see inside the most effective selling agencies, you would see well-oiled machines that, as a group, achieve far more than any individual can. You see systems that may have 100 or so checkpoints in them, systems designed to avoid error and maximise position for their client. Processes that maximise the outcomes for seller and reduce poor seller decisions and increase good seller decisions. Processes that leave few, if any, stone unturned in terms of marketing, follow up, communications and so on.

Walk into a company such as Marshall White or Barry Plant and you will see training, systems and processes that would be the equal of any formula one team (we imagine) – processes that are designed to produce winning situations every Saturday.

Good processes are a huge part of the modern evolving real estate agent and, if the training is right and the leadership at the top spot on, then these processes produce great results for their clients day in and day out. This has been another big evolution and computers, databases and the internet have facilitated this.

As buyer agents as an industry mature, we too are improving and will continue to improve our buying processes.

One final thing that agents do a lot more of, in this competitive 21^st century environment is work hard and smart. Fifty, even 10, years ago maybe it was an off-the-cuff statement, a bit a bravado and then some beers. We have evolved.

With the information superhighway and the professional processes (others have) and the knowledge and the systems and an increasingly well-informed public comes a reality that selling and buying agents need to do all the above and they need to do it smart. They need to be well trained , have assistants, use computers and be fit (yes run, swim, think). And they need to do it every day because if they are not – then their, or more importantly your (be you buyer or seller), competitor is getting the upper hand on you.

A good agent in 2009 is a whole lot more than a commission expense or a full-time liar of the previous dark ages. A good agent (buying or selling), has become one that can add value (greater than the expense) to the single most important material decision of your life – where you will live and where your family will grow up. We are not perfect but we are evolving……… Stay tuned.

Buy Well

Mal

Brighton: 21 Montclair: Happy Photo. For David and Fiona Southgate the buy and sell stress is over. Photo: Carole Laird from Hodges.

Bidderman at 1.7 is still consderably lower than elsewhere in Million Dollar Melbourne.

Brighton and Brighton East reported 16 $m+ auctions with 5 passed in. In addition to the reports below was a strong result at 40 Black St with James Paynter of Buxton which sold under the hammer for $2,050,000. Small block, period home needing serious work – the renovators are back with a vengeance – such a different story from this time last year. This would not have even drawn a crowd let alone a strong result.

The Port Melbourne Apartment Market is semmingly back with 22/1 Beach St (HMAS) and Level 6 in the 4th tower selling at auction for $1.645m and $1.77m respectively. Jane Lucas of Kay and Burton and John Slavkoski of Barry Plant

Julian Augustini said Hodges 6 out of 7 sold at auction.
Buyer demand is quite strong as buyers realize little stock is coming on moving forward over next 5 weeks
“Both Campbell and I have 5 auctions each for December 12^th. These campaigns started today and response has been strong so Dec 12^th is looking strong despite huge numbers of auctions this weekend.”
More offers being made prior to auction that I’ve seen in a years – and there are a quite a few sold before.  Sandy last week 2 sold at and 1 passed in and 4 sold before.
$1m to $1.5m is very strong through Sandy and Hampton.

Other properties included 7 Armfield and 127 North Rd both of which sold in excess of $2m.

Auctions we attended today:

BRIGHTON – 2 Wellington St – Bought – two bidders
According to auctioneer Frank Hellier, for Malcolms Real Estate, there was a lot of genuine interest in this property, with Asian and Russian buyers among the mix. Assisted by the young Tom Davidson, Mr Hellier took a genuine opening bid of $1.5m and the property was on the market at $1.7m. Two bidders saw the property sell under the hammer for $1.85m in front of a crowd of around 60 people.

BRIGHTON – 3 Maysbury Ave – Passed In – no bidders
Agent Robin Parker described the wide frontage of this property as ideal for developers, but unfortunately even that didn’t entice any buyers for this 1920s home. Auctioneer Greg Costello, of RT Edgar, opened with a vendor bid of $1.95m, and after a further two vendor bids the property was passed in at $2m. A small crowd of around 20, many of whom seemed to be nearby residents and not genuine buyers.

BRIGHTON – 113 Male St – Passed In – one bidder
The meticulous renovation of this Victorian home attracted a lot of interest from passers by, but unfortunately the only sale that took place was by a neighbour selling plants from his driveway! Julian Augustini, of Hodges Real Estate, opened with two vendor bids (the first was $1.3m), followed by a single genuine bid of $1.35m but the property was passed in at that price.

BENTLEIGH EAST, 43 Mawby Rd – Passed in – no bidders
Three couples seemed interested in this neatly presented property and were seen talking to agents from Buxton Real Estate before proceedings. But despite that, no one placed a bid and the property passed in on a vendor bid of $900,000. A big crowd of around 80 people. Auctioneer was Craig Williamson.

HAMPTON, 26 Avondale St – Passed in – no bidders
Despite the efforts of Greg Costello, from RT Edgar, and a good crowd of around 60, this property failed to attract any bids at auction. Earlier, two parties had shown interest in the property, but it was passed in on a vendor bid of $2.4m.

HAMPTON, 1/39 Holyrood St - Bought – four bidders
A moderate crowd of around 50 people attended a unique auction where the reserve of $475000 was disclosed by Greg Costello before proceedings. RT Edgar took the unusual steps at the vendor’s request and after a cheeky bid of $400,000, a serious bidder met the reserve. Quick bidding from four parties followed with increments down to $250 and selling for an undisclosed amount.

MIDDLE PARK, 191 Page St - Bought – four bidders
This auction was described as being like a street party with several groups of people staying and chatting after proceedings. Even auctioneer Andrew Stuart, of Hocking Stuart,  joined in the frivolities when the business of selling properties was over. Four bidders after an opening vendor bid of $1.8m. The property was on the market at $2m and bought for $2.120m.

BRIGHTON EAST, 5 Lysander St - Bought – five bidders
Strong interest from several developers for this good sized property pushed bidding up quickly. Campbell Cooney (Hodges) led proceedings which started with a genuine bid of $1.1m. The property was on the market at $1.255m and sold for $1.280m. A solid crowd of 50 people with five bidders.

BRIGHTON, 29 St James Park Drive – Bought
A lovely atmosphere, with many of the 45 strong crowd sitting on the grass to watch the auction. Rod Richardson (Hocking Stuart) was in charge and opened proceedings on a vendor bid of $1.69m. Unfortunately there was no response from the crowd and the property was passed in. It sold later for an undisclosed amount.

ELWOOD, 10 Lawson St – Passed in – one bidder
Auctioneer Tony Pride gave a great address to the crowd of around 50 people, but even this failed to excite the crowd. Only one bidder became involved in the proceedings after an opening vendor bid of $1.75m. The crowd just wasn’t in a buying mood and the property was passed in at $1.76m.

Happy Wife Happy Life

St Kilda West: 22 Park: Great day for an Auction: Well we thought so but nobody else did: Passed In

While Inner East flies Bayside still presents buying opportunities -

Three Facts about our Bayside – Beaumaris, Brighton to Port Melbourne

• 58% Clearance rate on 36 auctions yesterday – that’s low.
• Less than one bidder auction today. That’s right Bidderman below one – that is a falling market if it continues.
• Some of the nicest buyer agents live there.

Beaumaris: 29 Haydens: Hey Jen! Steve I'm focused! Jen, where have those bidders gone? Steve Tickell & Jenny Dwyer. Passed In

If you hate the beach, love traffic and have got plenty of money stay looking for your double fronteds in Armadale and Hawthorn – only trouble is the coffee shops are full in between open times with fellow depressed non-buyers; oh and Maserati dealers looking for selling agents (that was unfair). No, no, no young men go South and take your woman with you – show her a good time at Hampton’s Brown Cow and while you are gazing into her eyes nodding that yes you really do get “Happy Wife – Happy Life” drift off into the clouds and dream about your mortgage lender’s expression when he realizes you’re not going near your limit to buy your dream home.

The $5m+ market is alive and well in Brighton and in fact has been stronger all year, than it’s “wealthiest suburb” challengers Hawthorn, Canterbury, Toorak and Malvern; however the $1m to $3m market is not as strong especially in the fringe suburbs of Hampton, Sandringham and Beaumaris.

This is best evidenced by a sample Saturday’s results

James Auction Reports

54 Shasta Brighton East – Bought Afterwards – no bidders during auction
Auctioneer Peter Kennett of Hocking Stuart was not able to elicit any response from the crowd and passed the development property in on his second vendor bid at $1.7m

29 Haydens Road Beaumaris – Passed In – No bidders
A crowd of about 50 gathered around the outside pool in glorious sunshine to watch this auction. Despite the lovely setting and a chatty crowd, there were no bids forthcoming. Auctioner Steve Tickell opened with a vendor bid of $1.12 million but there were no takers and the property passed in at this price.

19 Chatsworth Brighton – Bought Afterwards – 2 bidders
2 bidders joined in on top of the opening vendor bid of $2.6m from Jason Gill of Hodges. Passed in at $2.89m and sold after at $2.95 million. Almost a $500,000 improvement on when it sold late last year.

33 The Avenue Hampton – Bought Before

52 Black St Brighton – No bidders
Small crowd saw no bids at all come forward to auctioneer Jonathan Dixon.

5 Manor St Brighton – Bought – 3 bidders
Auctioneer Leigh Hallamore of Buxton opened with a vendor bid of $1.2m and 3 bidders from the crowd of 50 joined in until it was sold at $1,705,000.

16 Tennyson St Sandringham – Bought – 2 bidders
A picnic atmosphere prevailed here, with many of the 100-strong crowd sitting on the lawn to watch proceedings. It was the first time in 50 years that this house had been offered and that generated a lot of buzz from the crowd. Auctioneer Mark Earle opened with a vendor bid of $1.65 million and two bidders joined in. There seemed to be a lot of happiness from the crowd when a family bought the home for $1.861 million.

47 Reed St Albert Park – Passed In – No bidders
The sun was hot but the vibe was cool at this auction. Auctioneer Oliver Bruce opened with a vendor bid of $2.3 million and followed it with a second vendor bid of $2.38 million after no-one from the 40-strong crowd offered a bid. The property was passed in at that price.

290 Cecil St South Melbourne – Sold After – One bidder
In front of 30 people, auctioneer Andrew Stuart opened proceedings here with a vendor bid of $1.6 million. The sole bidder made a bid of $1.61 million and the property was passed in at that price.

20 Asling St Brighton – Passed In – No bidders
A crowd of 70 saw Jonathan Dixon pass-in this home on one of two vendor bids at 2.5m.

22 Park Street St Kilda West – Passed In – One bidder
About 100 people attended this auction, which auctioneer Tony Pride opened with a vendor bid of $2.5 million. The sole bidder made a bid of $2.55 million, which was followed up by a second vendor bid of $2.7 million and the property was passed in at that price.

Happy Wife Happy Life

Oh and don’t forget Elsternwick
17 Regent St Elsternwick  Renovator - great spot and great bones.
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2008025585
James Auction Report: In front of 80 people, an optimistic bid of $800,000 started this auction. Lots of bidding and lots of entertainment here – seven bidders and the property sold for $1.39 million.
In Hawthorn this would have pushed $1.8m to $1.9m

Canterbury, 19 Rubens: Would you believe it? Missed by that much. Actually Richard James of Jellis Craig does not miss all that often. Four bidders. Bought for $3.301 million. Good result for agent Daniel Bradd as well.

It is 6pm Saturday and the James Auction Clearance Rate on the 32 $1m+ properties we attended and reported on today was 72 per cent.

The REIV’s clearance rate was declared at 82 per cent but they are missing around 200 auction results and our guess is the clearance rate has dropped below 80 per cent for the first time in a long time.

But, hey, there were 1000 auctions – it’s the Grand Final, the Melbourne Cup and the Masters of 2009 all rolled into one for selling agents. This is it – the big one; and things went pretty well for sellers and not so good for buyers who didn’t buy and were hoping for a little sign of decline.

What’s Hot x 2

• Family Homes in Boroondara and Stonnington in $1m to $3m range.
• 166 Mont Albert Road Canterbury - seven bidders – $4.01 million.
  James Auction Report: James Tostevin started slowly, taking a $2.95 million opening bid in front of a big crowd of around 80, all nicely spaced out around the tennis court. Seven bidders later, in what seemed like an eternity on the last few bids, saw the hammer come down a bit gingerly at $10,000 over $4 million.
• 20 Callantina Road Hawthorn- five bidders – $6.125 million.
  James Auction Report: About 130 people saw this auction open with a genuine bid of $4.9 million. There were five bidders and the property was on the market at $5.65 million. The eventual buyer was a determined bidder who stayed strong throughout the auction process and bought the property for $6.125 million.

What’s Not Hot

• This weekend: surprisingly, Malvern East’s Gasgoine Estate was dead as a doornail today, with three pass-ins from three homes (0 per cent clearance); as was Toorak, with only one from five selling, or 20 per cent clearance rate, but everywhere else in Stonnington was very strong.
• Bayside was definitely weaker than Stonnington or Boroondara. In Bayside, six out of 11 $1 million-plus auctions we attended sold, or 54 per cent clearance rate. In Stonnington and Boroondara, it was 16 out of 20, or 80 per cent for $1 million-plus homes.
• There are still some cheaper homes in Bayside. Hampton is cheap compared to Kew and Hawthorn.
• PPP (Price, Property, Position) ADVICE from our AUCTION REPORTERS
  If you hate the beach, love traffic and have got plenty of money, stay looking for your double-fronteds in Armadale and Hawthorn. The only trouble is the coffee shops are full in between open times with fellow depressed non-buyers; oh and Maserati dealers looking for selling agents (that was unfair). No, no, no, young men go south and take your woman with you – show her a good time at the Brown Cow at Hampton and, while you are gazing into her eyes nodding that, yes, you really do get “Happy Wife – Happy Life”, drift off into the clouds and dream about your mortgage lender’s expression when he realises you’re not going near your borrowing limit to buy your dream home.

De Ja Vu – Not Really – 2008 and 2009

19 Chatsworth Avenue Brighton auctioned pre-Melbourne Cup Weekend 2008 and then again today.

James Auction Report 2008: “Energetic comments from Leigh Hallimore didn’t draw any bids, despite his offer to take any bids prior to his opening and closing vendor bids.” Quote was $3,2 million. Sold sometime later for around $2.5 million.
James Auction Report 2009: Two bidders joined in on top of the opening vendor bid of $2.6 million from Jason Gill of Hodges. Passed in at $2.89 million and sold after at $2.95 million. Almost a $500,000 improvement on when it sold late last year.

As this is the big one for 2009, we have focused this edition on results, results, results. What is really happening out there in the trenches? From that, you should be able to work out what will happen in the run-up to Christmas. Here are our auction reporter summaries and these are their stories.

Gina – Bayside (attended auctions in Prahran, Albert Park and South Melbourne)

• Very quiet and quite flat atmosphere at auctions.
• None of these auctions sold and there were few bids (one bidder made one bid at Prahran, none at Albert Park and one bidder made one bid at South Melbourne).
• Most of the crowd at all three auctions seemed to be neighbours – most came on foot and didn’t hang around to see auction results.
• No Chinese bidders at any of these auctions.

Annette (four auctions – Hawthorn, Malvern, Malvern and St Kilda West)

• Good crowds – 70, 80, 100, 130.
• Good numbers of bidders – 6, 5, 5 (but just one bidder and one bid at St Kilda West).
• One Asian bidder at Claremont (but wasn’t the buyer). Largest presence of Asian people at these auctions was at Callantina but they were not involved in the bidding.
• Crowd at Park St, St Kilda West was a “younger crowd” but it also had least atmosphere – quite sombre, people were keeping hands in pockets.
• Crowd chatty and strong bidding and crowd interest at Claremont and Stanhope. Also big crowd interest at Callantina but it did sell for $6 million.

Jenny (two auctions – Beaumaris and Sandringham)

• Mixed atmosphere and results. Beaumaris had a chatty crowd but no bids. Lovely setting – held around the pool, people in crowd commented that they thought sunny weather and lovely setting would put people in the mood but it didn’t appear to. Passed in on the vendor bid.
• Sandringham – first time this house had been offered in 50 years, so generated a lot of interest. Crowd seemed buzzy and genuinely happy when family bought the house. Two bidders.

David (Bayside – Brighton and Hampton)

• Five auctions, plus one sold before.
• Four passed in.
• Small crowds.
• Flat overall.

Julia (five auctions – Hawthorn East x 2, Canterbury, Malvern East, Malvern)

• Big crowds – 125, 60, 100+, 130, 200.
• Not huge numbers of bidders - one at Victoria Rd, four at Rubens Grove, three at Finch St, none at Central Park Rd and one at Deanlea Court.
• Of the four bidders at Rubens Grove, two were Asian and they were the final two bidders after the other two dropped out. The bidding got quite aggressive between these two and one bidder (who was eventual buyer) was very keen to buy it.
• With the other auctions, all felt buzzy at the start and like they would build into something big but then never did. There were four pass-ins and only Rubens Grove sold under the hammer.

Adam (three auctions – Balwyn North x 2, Hawthorn)

• Big crowds – 80 at each.
• Bidders – not many but they were quick-fire auctions. There were probably more bidders there than bid but they didn’t get a chance to get their hands up.
• Didn’t see any Asian bidders
• An anecdote: because it was such a big auction day today, all of the Marshall White crew and team working were supplied with bottles of water and snack packs to keep their energy up throughout the day.

Tom (two auctions – Toorak and Elsternwick – a tale of two cities)

• No real interest at Toorak but seven bidders at Elsternwick.
• Summary from Tom: “On Saturdays, I do auction reporting to get out in the fresh air and see the buzz of different parts of Melbourne, the people, the houses, the streets. I have always had an interest in houses and have a special interest in Californian Bungalows and 1930s Art Deco. Since March, the property market has been on fire with prices that defy my bookkeeper’s conservatism. The market seems to be back where it was in the last half of 2007 and I am surprised at how competitive it is at auctions these days. Well located family homes in the inner suburbs under $2 million is a very strong market – they never seem to go out of fashion.”

MORE ADVICE from our AUCTION REPORTERS
17 Regent St Elsternwick Renovator - great spot and great bones.
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2008025585
James Auction Report: In front of 80 people, an optimistic bid of $800,000 started this auction. Lots of bidding and lots of entertainment here – seven bidders and the property sold for $1.39 million. In Hawthorn, this would have pushed $1.8 to $1.9 million.

HISTORY LESSON – rewind one year to same pre-Melbourne Cup weekend 2008

James Market Insight, 25 October 2008:
At 5pm Saturday, just two of the 13 auctions we attended today have sold under the hammer, with another two or three expected to be sold overnight.

Here are three quality home auctions from 25 October 2008 – they would have all sold well today.

85 St Vincent Place Albert Park:
James Auction Report 25 Oct 2008: Biggest crowd I’ve seen this year to hear auctioneer Andrew Macmillan put on his first-rate routine: he starts quietly, forcing the crowd across the road to move to him, and he made some very humorous comments. So I, as usual, enjoyed the show, as did everybody else, except, at time of leaving, the owner. Class property, class auctioneer – no result yet.

28 Thanet St Malvern
James Auction Report 25 Oct 25th: “The opening bid from the crowd was well below the quote. Another bidder made one bid and then another offered a smaller increase, which wasn’t accepted. The property was passed in to the highest bidder – not sure this will sell unless there is major movement from either buyer or seller.”

1 Fairlie Court South Yarra
James Auction Report 25 Oct 2008: “Auctioneer Jeremy Fox started by saying this home was worth $5 million and then called out a $4.5 million opening vendor bid. There was no response from the crowd.”

Lots more detail below on each auction in our Market Wraps and NO MARKET NEWS NEXT WEEK on the Melbourne Cup Long Weekend. We return the week after for the run to Christmas.

Buy Well

Mal

Thank you for a huge effort today from many people:

A big thank you to all our auction reporters and auction and sale coordinators Melinda Brown and Simone Clarke – it is not easy dealing with grumpy advocates each week and getting a wide coverage of million-dollar-plus auctions up in a timely manner on a Saturday night. But you do it and do it well. Thank you.

Thank you also for the continuing support we receive from selling agents Marshall White, Benmac, Kay and Burton, RT Edgar, Hocking Stuart, Noel Jones, Biggin and Scott, JP Dixon, Jellis Craig to name a few. We published a strong article last week, which we 100 per cent stand by and we were challenged on a number of points during the week,. It was robust but polite discussion and no agent pressured us to stop writing opinion pieces and no agent stopped us reporting their results (good or bad) today. Thank you.

Ormond: 133 Wheatley: Nick Renna bought the usual racing sized crowd of over 130 people. 4 bidders. Opening Bid $1.05m. On the market at $1.1m and bought for $1.23 million.

Lots of homes to report on. In not the best part of Brighton East – 20 Letchworth Avenue – which is down towards Moorabbin; saw a block of land sale by Andrew Urquhart of JP Dixon of just over a million or $1500+ per sq metre. While down that way Jacquie Maggs of JP Dixon also sold a brand new home on similar land size (643sqm) facing onto Dendy Park for in excess of $2.5m - 78 Glencairn Avenue. That is solid.

Middle Park: 221 Beaconsfield: Andrew Stuart and John Holdsworth: Bought for $4,600,000. 3 bidders

Moving into Central Brighton Justin Follett of Kay and Burton who seems to be the “$3m agent” around Bayside at the moment finally got 12 Campbell St Brighton away through an Expressions of Interest campaign at a price in excess of $3m. Looks it is an OK build and has the glitz but I remember walking through there six months ago and thinking $2.6 ish and said to Justin you are dreaming at $3m+. He smiled. When you compare it to the new home sale in Vaucluse St only a few hundred metres away earlier the year – February I think at $2.1m you can see just how far the market has moved. I acknowledge that Campbell is a slightly better street and product but it is marginal and Vaucluse was north facing rear.

Solid but expected result for Jenny Dwyer of Hocking Stuart at 6 Keats St in Sandringham. Even if it’s not perfect – if its central Sandy and period then what seemed such a mountain last year – high one million’s – is now becoming very achievable again.

James Auction Report: A massive turn out for Keats St, Sandringham with a crowd of more than 100. Hocking Stuart was the agent and Stephen Tickell the auctioneer. Very interesting and entertaining auction with seven bidders! Opening bid of $1.4m and three strong bidders to start. Property went on the market at $1.6m which attracted another 4 bidders – one of whom kept telling Stephen he could – have a break -, while he conferred over the phone, much to the delight of the crowd. Especially when the bidder then got in his car and drove off after reaching his limit! The property sold for $1.78m, which Stephen later told another crowd at Fourth St, was nearly $250,000 over the reserve.

In that area 20 Orlando St Hampton sold before auction for an undisclosed but pretty much as expected result.

20 Orlando St Hampton - Julian Augustini of Hodges and Chris Bevan of JP Dixon

James Home Rating: 806 out of 1000. Great package – brilliant location (except for some at rear of shops is an issue), but close to beach, shops, train and everything including Brown Cow. The architect James Rigney has a well deserved excellent reputation and apart from no downstairs bedroom the floor plan is hard to fault and 3 bathrooms upstairs. Looks really well built and has a real northerly (the best) aspect for light. This will be hotly contested at auction and will probably go beyond simple land plus home values. I really like this as a new home and recommend that if you also do then you should go the extra mile and buy it. Overall package as good as it gets in Bayside for this type of home

James Control Price: Dirt $1,176,000 + House $1,100,000 = $2,276,000.

James Auction Report: Sold before hand.

Post Auction Result: As expected.

Moving northwards into Middle Park and Port Melbourne we saw two $4m plus sales.

19 Beach st through top end agents – Gerald Delany and Peter Kudelka of Kay and Burton in excess of $5m.

While on big numbers another heavyweight duo this time at Hocking Stuart – Andrew Stuart and John Holdsworth got the development site at 221 Beaconsfield Parade away

James Auction Report: Opening Bid of $3,800,000 and 3 bidders took it to a bought price of $4,600,000. 50 people.

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Elsternwick: 48 College: Stand Up comedian and auctioneer Bill Stavrakis entertains the 90 strong crowd and 4 bidders to a bought price of $1,238,000.

Overall Bayside looked pretty solid this week and the next two weeks will either confirm its strength or show some signs of minor distress as we have a lot of auctions coming up.

Brighton: 116 Carpenter St. Jason Gill of Hodges a prolific Bayside $1m seller gets this way away with 3 bidders at $1,170,000

This week

15 Well St Brighton which was 1000 sq metres with permits for apartments right in the middle of the Church St precinct sold through Brian Devlin of Buxton for a very strong $3500 per sq metre+

116 Carpenter St Brighton which was a difficult back – near a funeral parlour and backing onto a railway line still sold through Jason Gill of Hodges.

James Auction Report: A bid of $950,000 from the crowd of 35 people started off this auction. There were three bidders in total, with the property on the market at $1.04 million and sold for $1.17 million.

This has either been bought by somebody keen to get into Brighton at this $1m price point and made sacrifices or a developer who sees putting a glitz and glam home on it and reselling north of $2m or of course I could be completely wrong.

4 out of 5 sold over a million at auction in Brighton East - Curley, Canberra, Glencairn, Lubrano and only Milliara missing out

Down the bay a bit Julian Augustini of Hodges was again in form selling one at auction and one quietly.

70 Holyrood Hampton (auction) – at $1.51 for 811 sq metres and a serious renovation and quietly a similar land size in Littlewood St Hampton for just under $1.5m. Assuming little value in the homes that is putting land around $1600 to 1700 per sq metre if it is a good block in the Golden Triangle of Hampton for prime Middle Hampton.

James Auction Report: In front of 50 people, auctioneer Julian Augustini opened this auction with a vendor bid of $1.35 million. Three bidders joined in and the property eventually sold for $1.51 million.

51 McGregor Middle Park was a strong sale at $2.27m for John Holdsworth of Hocking Stuart – who like British Paints just keeps on keeping on. Land is hard to estimate but it looks to be well north of $5000 per sq metre if we saw house value in its unrenovated form at $450,000. This time last year nobody would have turned up let alone bid on this even under $2m. Not because it is not good but because that was the market then.

James Auction Report: This corner property was buzzing with a crowd of 110 gathering from all angles. Andrew Stuart got things rolling with a vendor bid of $1.7 million and three bidders joined in. The property was on the market at $2.15 million and sold at $2.27 million.

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